


New and Permanent Realities

by probablynotadalek



Series: Probably Not Ficlets [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Not A Fix-It, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18688342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablynotadalek/pseuds/probablynotadalek
Summary: He had never intended to use the other AIs. He’d created them mostly out of boredom, and a little just because he could. He made them with Jarvis at his side.This wasn’t something he’d seen coming.





	New and Permanent Realities

Sunlight filled the room from the floor to wall window as Tony opened his eyes. He regretted it instantly. He brought his hand up to his face in an effort to ward off the headache from the hangover.

“Jarvis,” he said, standing up and walking into the bathroom. “I told you to keep the shades down, so please, explain to me why the windows are fully open.” 

“You never told me that, Mr. Stark.”

“Right.” Tony braced his hands on either side of the clean white sink and told himself he wasn’t going to puke. “Not Jarvis.” He took a breath as he remembered. Jarvis was gone. He saved the world and Jarvis was gone and he didn’t cry. He drank. He drank and he drank until he forgot but he always had to remember.

He grabbed a bottle of pills he thought were painkillers. He didn’t bother counting the red circles as he poured them into his hand and downed as many as he could with a bottle he had left on the sink the night before. 

“You shouldn’t take ibuprofen with scotch. You’ll tear a hole in your stomach lining.”

Tony swallowed. “Sorry. Which one are you?” 

“Happy.” 

“Alright, Happy.” He walked out of the bathroom. “Why is it still so bright in here?”

“My bad.” The room descended into darkness as Tony buried his face in a pillow. 

“Remind me to switch you out as soon as I wake up.” He mumbled.

“Will do, Mr. Stark.” 

***

“Tony.” A hand shook his shoulder. “Tony wake up.” Tony groaned in response. “Come on.”

“What do you want, Pepper.” Tony rolled over, sunlight burning through his closed eyes.

“I want you to wake up. Some of us have work to do.”

“So what are you doing here?”

“You have work to do.”

“Let me guess. I missed a meeting.”

“Two. And a press conference. 

“And why should I care?”

“It’s your company.” Pepper pulled the blanket off of Tony, ignoring the way his hands followed it.

Tony sat up. “Really? Because I seem to remember signing a lot of paperwork that made it your company.”

“Still has your name on it. And you are still on the Board of Directors which means you are expected to be at the Board of Directors meeting.” Pepper lifted him off of the bed.

“But I have to,” Tony waved his hand. “Jarvis, what do I have to do today?”

“Happy. And you wanted me to remind you to replace me.” 

“I have to replace Happy.”

“Happy?” Pepper said, throwing a pair of pants at Tony. “Do you have a Pepper stored off somewhere?”

“No, but if I did, I’d program her so that she wasn’t so bossy all the time.”

“Well then she wouldn’t get anything done.” She crossed her arms. “Come on, pants.” 

“You know the Romans never wore pants, and no one’s saying anything about that.”

“The Romans wore togas.” She walked into the closet to grab him a shirt. “Do you want to wear a toga?”

“Wearing a blanket all day and no pants? Sounds perfect.”

“I managed to convince the Board to postpone the meeting for you. It’s in 45 minutes. I’m leaving in 15. If you want to wear a toga, or a dress, or pajamas, I’m not going to stop you. But if you want to put on a suit like a respectable human being then we can stop for breakfast on the way there.” She came out of the closet with a white button down and a suit jacket, both of which she laid on the bed.

“Oh, bribing me with egg sandwiches. That’ll work.” Tony said, even as he stepped into his pants. “Though donuts might.”

“Shirt, Tony.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” He said, a smile stretched across his face as she left the room. As soon as the door clicked shut his smile fell and he sunk his face into his hands. The nausea he had been trying to suppress began to overwhelm him. “Not gonna puke, not gonna puke.” He rushed to the bathroom.

He made it to the toilet just in time to throw up everything he had left in his stomach.

“Should I call Pepper back in?”

“No,” He said, steadying himself on the edge of the toilet. “Don’t do that.” He stood slowly, shaking. “I’ll be okay.” 

“Of course, Mr. Stark.”

Tony pulled himself up and leaned against the counter. He looked down at his worn out ACDC t-shirt. “Shirt.” He pushed off of the counter and stood on his own legs. “Shirt. I can do that.” He walked out of the bathroom. “Put a shirt on.” He picked up the button down from the bed. “One button at a time.” He pulled the shirt over his shoulders and started with the bottom button. “One button.”

***

“How was the meeting, Mr. Stark?” 

“Listen, Happy, I know that I programmed you to be friendly but right now, fuck off.”

“Not well, then?”

“I need a drink.” Tony grabbed a bottle and began to pour it into a clear glass.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, considering this morning.”

“I’ve been looking forward to replacing you all day, so just shut up.” Tony said, glass already touching his lips. 

“You haven’t replaced me yet.” 

“But I’m going to. Right now.” Tony stood up and started to walk away from the kitchen counter. “I am walking to the workshop right now to grab a new computer chip and put it where you are right now.” Tony began to descend the stairs. “Just you watch, in a few minutes you’ll be in a box with all the other AIs and somebody else will have taken your chance.”

“You do that, Mr. Stark.”

“I will. And you know what? I’ll like it too. Happy.” He muttered under his breath. “Why in the hell did I base you off of Happy?”

“He’s the only friend you have who wouldn’t be weirded out by this.”

“Not true. Clint would love this.” Tony pulled out a shoebox full of blue rectangles with white labels he had written hastily in sharpie. “I just don’t want to give him the satisfaction.” He walked over to a panel in the wall. “Let’s see. Maria, Tadashi, here.” He held up one. “Jocasta.” He set the chip back in the box and opened the panel, revealing blue panels and lines that made up his AIs. “Come on out Happy.” A few buttons and switches and Happy’s chip slid out easily. He pulled the chip out easily and threw it in the box, quickly putting the new chip into the slot. “Hello Jocasta.”

Tony held his hands up expectantly for a moment before a woman’s voice answered. “Hello, Stark.”

“Huh.” Tony dropped his hands. “I thought you’d sound different.”

“All that time creating me and you never bothered checking my voice?”

“To be fair, I didn’t spend that much time creating you.” Tony set the box on a table and started up the stairs again, finding his way to the cabinet he had nearly emptied the night before. “Jarvis, why is this not fully stocked? I have told you to keep it fully stocked, what kind of a butler robot doesn’t-”

“I will order more, Stark.”

“Jocasta.” He sighed, opening the cabinet and pulling out a bottle at random, completely ignoring the glasses piled on top of the cabinet and taking a drink. “Jocasta.” He took the bottle with him as he walked up the stairs to his room. “Tell me, Jocasta, what do I have planned for today.”

“You have a meeting scheduled in an hour, and dinner with Miss Potts after that.”

“Cancel everything.” Tony reached his room and opened the door. “I need time alone.”

“Of course, Stark.”

“That means you, too. Go do,” He took another drink from the bottle, vodka with a label in what looked like Russian that burned his throat as he swallowed. “Whatever it is that you guys do when I’m not using you.”

There was no response except the light from the panel next to the door turning off. Had he programmed it to do that? He must have, he must have made it so that when the AI running the house went to sleep so did the light.

The light had never been off before.

Tony took another long drink from the bottle, trying to focus on anything but the darkness coming from the corner of the well-lit room.


End file.
